Virtuoso violist Shannon Merlino will explore the relationship between four Bach works.

Between 1717 and 1723, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Kothen hired J.S. Bach to serve in Kothen as his Kapellmeister (music director). Because of the prince’s Calvinist faith, Bach for the first time in his life found himself without a church choir and orchestra for whom to compose. Instead, Bach’s compositions during this period were largely secular. Bach, however, was a man of great faith, and even his secular works reflect the meditative, introspective, but often joyful style that we know as his own.

This program will explore, compare, and contrast the relationship between four works written by Bach (transcribed for viola) during his tenure at Kothen: the sublime Cello Suite no. 1 in G major, BWV 1007, the somber and architectural Violin Sonata no. 1 in G minor (C minor), BWV 1001, the monumental Violin Partita in D minor (G minor), BWV 1004, and the sublime Cello Suite no. 3 in C major, BWV 1009.